#Structuring Robots Into Heaven

[somanythings2021]

Bowers & Wilkinsのスピーカーを使っているのか。リッチ。

今回のアルバムが非常に奇妙な音だったのはモジュラーシンセを多用していたからだからと知ると納得。モジュラーシンセをモダンアートのようだと語っている。

logicのセッション画面を見るとトラック名をつけていないことに驚く。　

#james blake #studio #Structuring Robots Into Heaven #Bowers & Wilkins #Youtube

[antlerpunk]

thoughts on sound design and Divinity in ultrakill

#listening to things like #the sounds the virtues and their heavenly beam attacks make #or the hum of gabriel's light weapons #it's not the sound of an angelic choir. it's warbly and distorted and inorganic #almost like a synthesized imitation of more traditionally heavenly sound #and i don't remember if i've talked about it here. but that ties into the mechanical nature of heaven and its heirarchy #reading what the game has to say about gabriel. the wording very Very badly wants you to think of gabriel as a machine #as a weapon #the way the terminal talks about him and the way the council does #it's dehumanizing commodification #and that brings to mind the contrast the game sets up between angels and machines #because angels are counterpart to Robots in ultrakill's story. not demons #the game sets up conflict between Heaven and Earth. with hell just serving as a backdrop #and that shows in the way the game handles angels and machines #where the structure of heaven's forces is rigid and the sound of divinity is a synthetic growl #looking at ultrakill's scripture on machines on the other hand. you'll find that every robot described in the terminal has a story involving #some kind of deviation from originally manufactured purpose. form. design. aesthetic #they're really Wild Animals #they fight. they Live #they evolve and they mutate #they do whatever the hell they need to #and i find that fascinating. perfect contrast #again my fingers are crossed tighter than hell that the Violence layer plays with that animalism #or that machinekind is at least explored further somewhere else in the story #either way. can't wait #no one does hell like hakita #make it this far down i'd love to hear what you think

[powdermelonkeg]

Theory that solves(?) "founding of Hyrule" timeline inconsistencies:

Origin of Hyrule no. 1: Skyward Sword. Zelda, Link, and the Skylians settle the surface world at the game's conclusion. Notably, their dress looks nothing like the Zonai era.

Origin of Hyrule no. 2: Tears of the Kingdom. Rauru and Sonia are the king and queen who founded Hyrule. Notably, Zonai mechanisms and architecture greatly resemble the pre-Skyward-Sword-era Lanayru mining tech and symbolism, though Skyward Sword's art direction is more cartoony than TotK, so that has to be taken into account.

That's where it gets cyclical. If TotK's forgotten era came first, then:

Zonai influence should be ALL OVER Skyloft

The Gerudo should not exist, because they're (implied to be) descended from Groose, a Skylian; at the very least, there should have been a whole Gerudo culture in the Sky

Where did the Secret Stones go?

We should have seen Zeldra flying around in the sky, let alone Dinraal, Farosh, and Naydra

But if Skyward Sword came before all things Zonai, then:

The Lanayru Mining Facility (assuming it to be Zonai in origin) should not exist

Hyrule should have already been founded by Rauru's time

Of the two, Skyward Sword being first on the wild surface makes more sense. But if that's the case, there are even more questions:

Where did the Secret Stones come from? Are we to believe that Hylia gave them to the Zonai, since the Golden Trio have already left the Triforce and departed?

What about the Zonai themselves? They supposedly descended from the heavens. Were they just up so high that the Skylians couldn't find them? Did Hylia cleave the ground twice? Did they spontaneously appear up there like mice in grain bins?

Why is there a whole Temple of Time with bells that Rauru, one of two of the LAST of his species, woke up and went to sleep to? In fact, why is there an entire kingdom's worth of structures already built before the Sky Reckoning?

My solution:

The Zonai did exist pre-Skyward Sword, and did descend down from the sky ages ago. They built the Lanayru Mining Facility, utilizing the power of Timeshift Stones in their work. This is not Rauru and Mineru's era.

The Zonai are among the people that stay behind to fight Demise alongside Hylia, while the Skylians were sent up to Skyloft. The people of the Surface are entrusted with the Secret Stones as weapons against Demise, with the caveat that they keep them hidden. That's why they're called Secret Stones despite being well-known to Ganondorf in TotK, it was PARAMOUNT that Demise not know he could get any stronger.

The war ends. Just about every civilization is obliterated by it. The Zonai retreat as far from Demise's seal as they can to lick their wounds. They take the sages' Secret Stones with them, so as to not be caught unawares and lose them to Demise when he eventually reemerges.

Skyward Sword.

The evil is defeated, the Skylians come down to the Surface. That's the signal that it's safe to return now. Shortly after the Skylians officially start to settle, the Zonai, who know how things work, help them build a proper civilization.

Time passes. The Surface is officially a bunch of scattered clans with varying degrees of territory. People are content, though nothing is particularly efficient. The Skylians take on Zonai fashion and building styles as generations pass. The Zonai themselves dwindle.

Rauru, married to the leader of the Hylians, looks to unite the scattered clans under one banner in the name of prosperity and shared resources, idolizing the pre-Skyward era where the gods walked the land. He and Sonia officially name the place Hyrule, and any clan that signs treaty with them is considered within its borders. Mineru, meanwhile, has made her first construct models based on the Lanayru Mine Robots of old, which add to the appeal of joining Hyrule as its subkingdom territories.

Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda's first 12 memories.

Between the Master Sword going back in time and Zeldra's ascent, Zelda and Mineru get to work with as many constructs as possible to protect the Sky Isles they plan to send upwards. They need a TON of Zonaite, and recycling is a priority, leading to the gachapon machines.

Zelda knows enough about her kingdom that she knows where the land is particularly rich is where the people of her time settled, and Zonaite is shown to enrich soil greatly. This is why all the old Zonaite mines are underneath the towns in modern Hyrule, despite changing geography through other eras, and Tarrey Town's new-ness.

Zelda ascends.

The secretive Sheikah clan, having seen the Blood Moon's rise when the Demon King took power, realize that Demise isn't, in fact, all gone. They decide this means that their job serving Hylia isn't truly done, and return to help the fledgling kingdom as best they can. They bring the knowledge of the Master Sword of Skyward Sword days with them.

Ganondorf first shakes the seal he's under without form, leading to the first Calamity and the initial rise of Calamity Ganon. This is 10k years before BotW. This is also the first documented use of the Master Sword to seal the Demon King away, recorded in the tapestry.

The Sheikah are forced to abandon their technology. The Yiga/Sheikah split happens.

Literally all the rest of Hyrulean History happens after this.

Breath of the Wild.

Tears of the Kingdom.

#totk #botw #skyward sword #theory #loz #zelda #timeline shenanigans #things make a lot more sense if you divide the zonai into TWO eras instead of one #also FINALLY i have a reason why there are mines under Tarrey Town. like all the rest were iffy as is but TARREY #that thing was built SIX YEARS AGO and I BUILT IT #long post #bee attempts to make sense of zelda lore by eating all the wrenches nintendo keeps throwing into it

[askvectorprime]

Dearest Vector Prime,

What do you know of Cybertronian martial arts? How do they differ from one another? You must have encountered more than a few unique styles and practitioners in your travels.

Dear Jet Judoka,

Ever since the first construction crane robot used its crane boom to deliberately knock over another robot eons ago, martial arts have been an integral part of our history.

You might assume that the warmongering Decepticons were the first to codify these disciplines of pugilism—and indeed, the brutality of their attacks and strategies gave them the edge at the outbreak of war. But the Autobots, who had lived as engineers and laborers, were able to disguise their training: every step, every turn of a wheel, every act of physical labor could be a secret technique, practiced thousands of times per cycle, until they had mastered the perfect move with which to surprise their adversaries.

Under Autobot schools of thought, there are two basic elements of physical combat: “Piston” and “Gear” motion. “Piston” is a direct, linear force: delivered by punches, rocket-powered fists, or other inbuilt ballistics. By contrast, “Gear” is a deflecting, rotational force: swiveling at the waist, or rolling, to create a “transmission” of the opponent’s energy into advantageous movement. In time, this framing came to influence Decepticon disciplines, until both groups were using the same terminology.

As the conflict between Autobot and Decepticon continued, fuelled by an escalating arms race to develop esoteric weaponry and enhancements, some chose to eschew ranged combat and instead specialize in martial arts based around stealth and melee. After sneaking into the enemy’s midst, a single warrior trained in this way could quickly dismantle those unprepared soldiers who relied more on their armament and abilities. Being a direct reaction to the highly technological mindset of both factions, it’s perhaps unsurprising that martial arts came to be spoken of using increasingly spiritual terms. Those trained in Circuit-Su turned inwards towards the personal energy of the spark, which practitioners of Metallikato would learned to channel through their weapons, striving to embody the “Ultimate Warrior” of legend. Meanwhile, followers of Yoketron’s Eightfold Path formed an understanding of self based on eight specifications: SPR-INT-SPD-END-RNK-CRG-FRB-SKL, each a separate aspect of Primus.

Other disciplines were influenced by offworld cultures. Crystalocution was developed by medics and structural engineers, after they observed the way Rock Lords would target their opponent’s fracture lines in hand-to-hand combat, and adapted the technique to focus on joints or brittle crystalline components in Cybertronians. The loose assortment of non-lethal forms commonly termed Diffusion, popular amongst the Autobots, are descended from a pacifist fighting style practiced amongst the Circle of Light.

Although these styles have been broadly recognised and adopted by countless fighters, it mustn’t be understated how deeply individualistic the martial arts can be: even within a single style, no two fighters are alike. An exceptional master may try to pass down their techniques, but the unique talent, ability, and perseverance of each student will inevitably transform these teachings into something new. Take, for example, the Turtler School.

Turtler lived as a hermit on an island, on Earth. Having felt undervalued by the Decepticons, he enjoyed the solitude this lifestyle afforded, living in peace from his Seacons. At some point in the distant future, a young simian Maximal arrived on a flying surfboard, wanting to learn martial arts in order to fight in the “Be(a)st Under The Heavens Tournament”. Turtler reluctantly took him on as a pupil, and over the course of several years, put him through a highly unorthodox training regimen. Some examples of the feats he had the Maximal perform included:

Climbing a mountain to catch a bird

Climbing a mountain again to catch a bird, but this time with Turtler strapped to his back in alt mode

Outrunning and outswimming Cybershark in a race

Painting Turtler's home (this one in particular was very unpopular with his student)

Eventually, the young Maximal proved his purity of heart—which wasn’t actually something Turtler had cared about in the least, as he really had just needed a few chores doing—and asked to learn the secret of Turtler’s ultimate technique, the King Poseidon Wave. Turtler, not quite understanding, assumed that the Maximal was talking about his laser cannon. He fired a shot to demonstrate—and to his surprise, the Maximal copied him, pressing two open palms together, and somehow firing a large energy blast! Before Turtler could even process what had happened, the Maximal hopped onto his surfboard and sailed away on a cloud, forever grateful for the good times he’d had with the old hermit over the years.

#ask vector prime #transformers #maccadam #circuit-su #metallikato #last autobot #yoketron #primus #crystalocution #rock lords #diffusion #circle of light #turtler #seacons #cybershark #king poseidon

[katistrophe]

I heard you like conlangs so I put conlang in your conlang

Or, Kat has Heaven’s Vault on their brain after playing Chants of Sennaar.

(Translation notes after the cut)

To start this off, I am a ridiculous person who has religiously avoided language spoilers for Heaven’s Vault, so this is based off of the… sixty-odd pages of notes I took while playing.

The title was tricky, of course - couldn’t really find the etymology of „Sennaar“, so „Chants of Sennaar“ became „Songs of the Tower“. If there is an Ancient word for „tower“ I haven’t found it, so I constructed one. I first thought of „high wall“, but went for „heaven:wall“ as a semi-pun on the Tower of Babel thing instead. (Double pun, but only for English speakers: I’m pretty sure if you exchange the noun marker in „wall“ for a place marker you get „place where something is buried“. As in a vault.)

Also on the title card, „options“ is literally „say change“, paralleling „say your destination“/„say your question(?)“ from hoppers/robots awaiting input. „Change“ is also inferred from the verb.

„Warriors“ was pretty straightforward to translate as „soldiers“. I also „translated“ the exclamation mark in the UI since Ancient doesn’t really have punctuation as such - it now says „important“.

„Bards“ is my own guess since I haven’t found the equivalent yet, but I don’t think I’ve leaned too far out of the window with it - „person who sings“. To reflect how „ungrammatical“ sentences with uncertain words are, I added spaces between the words rather than the run-on style of fully translated ones. I‘m not sure if an approximation of OSV sentence structure like „bards, we are“ would work in Ancient, but the whole mentally switching from OSV to SVO and vice vice versa is enough in the connection segments, I wouldn’t want to inflict it on a hypothetical Ancient-speaking player during all of the Gardens. (Note also the player trying to describe the „plural“ part with „many“ since Ancient doesn’t really do plural forms of nouns.)

„Devotees“ was probably the easiest to translate - „pilgrims“ is as literal as it gets, seeing as they are people wanting to move towards their deity. The „unreadable“ in the inscription becomes „can-not read“. (Not sure whether using „want“ for „seek“ isn’t a Chants-ism, but I haven’t found a better word yet, so it’s the best I can do…)

#heaven's vault #Heaven’s vault spoilers #chants of sennaar #chants of sennaar spoilers

[seat-safety-switch]

A lot of people ask me: just how many foreign bearded ladies did your dad fuck when he was travelling the world, hoping for any circus that would take him? The answer seems to always be: “one more.” Thanksgiving is busy. My half-brother, Saito Safety-Switch, grew up in a deprived environment. His childhood was spent in opulent comfort, wanting for nothing… except what his genes demanded. His body and mind screamed out for a shitty American car, yet none were available to him in the xenophobic and closed-minded world of Japanese so-called “high society.”

One morning, he was riding his 24-speed race bicycle (affixed with homemade “HUFFY” and “BURGER KING” stickers) past a dingy three-car dealership, shoved into the corner of two pachinko parlours and a restaurant where you could make out with a girl pretending to be a train station ticket dispensing robot for ¥350/hr. That’s when he saw it.

Now, things were worse back then. We didn’t have the Hunter-Killers. The Japanese had not invented the New Atmospheric Miracle. Human nerves were slower than light speed. All he had was a lot of worthless fiat currency in search of Fiats. Or, as he found it, a Dodge Michigan.

The Dodge Michigan is a product of Chrysler Corporation becoming delaminated even more than usual during the Cocaine Era. They thought: Japanese people love front-wheel drive cars. They thought: Japanese people love foreign luxury cars. They thought: we should sell them a 1986 Dodge Aries with fancy tail lights. They were wrong.

It took several months for Saito to convince the shaken inspectors that it was even a real car, ultimately choosing to purchase the inspection corporation through a shell company and having the former executives forcibly uploaded to the Heavens.

Friends: the 2.2 litre iron block shit-stirrer sitting comfortably inside the Michigan as it left its depressing American hometown for the promised land of the Pacific Rim did not last long. “Inefficient,” the tax authorities claimed, and penalized Saito. Here’s the thing about being the adopted child of Japan’s richest bearded-lady fetishist: you’ve had enough “original” for your entire life. It came out. The 13B Mazda rotary from a Roadpacer went in. And just to stick it in Uncle Nippon’s eye, a couple turbochargers. American, of course, built in one of the last surviving sentient manufactories before the Exultation.

By the time the authorities had recovered from their database failure and machine-mind emotional cascade collapse, I was on the ground in Haneda to meet my step-bro for some extremely complicated coffee. I didn’t expect what I’d be getting picked up in.

Somehow, he’d managed to hire folks to Sawzall actual subway hanger straps from the Chicago e-line, complete with the internal structure to retain the rails. It was pasted from stem to stern with imported industrial grit, ground into the carbon fibre’s centimetre thick bass boat clear in lieu of mica flake. And the tires were wide enough, secured in tripled-up Trans Am (the series, not the model) box overfenders, that two members of the Highway Code committee resigned in protest rather than be pushed into making an exception for what Saito’s humourless and unpredictably violent lobby group described as “experimental aircraft.”

[guardian-of-fandoms]

Rescue Bots as Ducktales 2017

Kade: I’ve done nothing with my life! I’m a failure!

Dani: Aww, that never bothered you before.

-

Cody: Great party, can’t wait to tell my therapist about it when i’m older, BYEEEEEEEEE

-

Frankie: To the Naos! That’s greek for temple.

Cody: Okay, stop assuming i know things. Like, base line, assume i know nothing. 

-

Graham: Are you saying Kade would rather eat us than hot dogs?

Kade: I do hate hot dogs...

-

Cody: We’re.. okay?

Dani: Oh my gosh, no magic can kill me I’M THE CHOSEN ONE!

-

Graham: Please, not everything is a dark family secret!

Charlie: KIds, i’ve got a dark family secret.

-

Heatwave: Cody’s crashed so many times, i’m convined he may be immortal!

-

Cody: Do you know how many evil robots i have faced?! HAHAHAHAHA too many....

-

Kade: TREASURE!

Dani: ADVENTURE!

Graham: HISTORACAL ACCURACY!

-

Chase, playing detective: Look what the Cat dragged in.

Dani: ... You asked me to come here???

-

Kade: Dad won’t even let me touch the toaster!

-

Dani: His life is like a Haiku!

Kade: Yeah, it’s fake garbage that structurally makes no sense, He’s obviously lying!

-

Graham: You know who my best friend is?

Kade: Me!

Graham: Sleep.

Kade: (offended gasp)

-

Kade: IF I DON’T MAKE IT TELL MY SIBLINGS I WAS THE BEST ONE!

-

Dani: Sure, i’m not the best at cooking, or age appropriate stories, or child endangerment,  BUT NOBODY’S PERFECT!

-

Cody: Talking animals wearing clothes!

Kade: Oh no, did we die? are we in cody heaven?

-

Cody: He tried to kidnap me, so i trapped him in an improvised ball pit snare trap.

Frankie: Alright!

-

Dani: Make our markes on the world!

Kade: Not have to answer to anyone!

Cody: Be horribly alone.

-

Graham: I’m still not counting out a Methane Gas Leak.

Dani: NOT EVERYTHING IS A METHANE GAS LEAK

-

Cody: You... realize there’s a difference between quitting and dying, right?

Dani: Not to me.

-

Kade: Heatwave, who’s side are you on?!

Heatwave: Oh, neither, this is just way more entertaining to me than that movie.

-

Woodrow: Just because it’s a myth dosen’t mean it’s not true!

Graham: Well, actutally....

-

Woodrow: That’s what they want you to think!

Charlie: Who is “they”?

Woodrow: Exactly...

Charlie: ... what?

-

Graham: Are we supposed to examine every rock in this tunnel?! ... actually, that sounds pretty fun- WAIT THAT’S NOT THE POINT

-

Kade: WAIT YOU WERE TRYING TO HELP HIM KILL US?!

Dani: If i’m gonna be sacrifed, i wanna do it right!

-

Heatwave: Most kids wouldn’t get this excited over impending doom. Kade usually just cries.

-

Doc Greene: SHUT UP EVERYONE, I’VE DONE SOMETHING BRILLIANT!

-

Doctor Morocco: STOP LAUGHING! I’ve wasted an entire reel of film, and you’re not even in frame!

-

Frankie: Do you think i put glitter on my top secret notebooks just because it’s pretty?

Cody: (sheepishly nods with glitter covered hands)

Frankie: Well, sure, it’s a perk, but-

-

Charlie: I’ll be in my office if you need me. please don’t need me.

-

Graham: oooooooh, do i spy some Shale?

Dani: how is that better than subway monsters?

-

Kade: I’ll try to listen to you next time, and not, y’know, pull a kade.

Heatwave: Seriously, that’s a thing now?

Kade: It’s all about branding.

-

Blades: It’s a cautionary tale on Mole Monsters! And everyone could use a lesson on chainsaw saftey!

-

Cody: This appears in like all of my dreams. i’m cradeling a moon made of my own tears???? who knows what that’s about.

Frankie: ... i have some theories.

-

Chase: I’m afraid that dosen’t belong to you, Evan and Miles!

Miles: I’m afraid i don’t care!

-

Frankie: Then i shall keep your secret, for i believe in science. but i also belive... IN LOOOOVVVEE!!!

-

Charlie: Where’s kade?

Dani: Sleeping.

Graham: Who’s kade?

Dani: (slowly looks over at graham)

(charlie runs off)

Dani: ... WHO’S KADE?!

-

Graham: Do you need me to get a briefcase?! ‘Cause i can go get one, and become the vice president of being Chill! ‘Cause i’m chill!!! I’m straight chilling!!! LIKE A VILLAIN, EVEN!!!! (manic laughter)

Kade: Oh no graham’s broken...

-

Woodrow: I guess you could say i’m well versed in the custodial sciences, hehe...

Cody: ... WE TRUSTED YOU!!!! CAME ALL THE WAY DOWN HERE, GOT ATTACKED BY A SQUID!!! 

#transformers rescue bots #cody burns #kade burns #dani burns #graham burns #incorrect quotes

[tinyozlion]

Howard: Wastin’ Away Again in Margaritaville, Some People Claim a Mobile Suit Is to Blame 

In light of the recent passing of Jimmy Buffett, let us pay our respects by talking about Howard:

The man, the myth, the fashion icon; part of the first generation of mobile suit engineers, designer of the Tallgeese and the Peacemillion, rocket scientist, honorary member of the Five Doctors Polycule, weed guy to Duo and OZ’s best, a man so thoroughly chill he brought Island Time (and his sunglasses) with him into space. 

Howard is one of those brilliant people who was in the unenviable position of working in a field where their discoveries and advancements are often co-opted for use by militaries looking for any kind of technological or strategic edge– that’s most fields, by the way. The entertainment industry gets scooped by the military. Even paleontology¹ sometimes gets scooped by the military. But Howard is an aerospace engineer and robotics expert, and those lend themselves to being exploited more than most, particularly because they often rely on the kind of big-budget funding that only the military industrial complex can provide.

“Mobile Suits are nearly as old as the colonies themselves. When man took his first steps into space and started building new structures in the heavens, it was clear that new tools would be needed to perform the construction. Mobile Suits evolved from early motorized spacesuits and spacecraft manipulator arms. [...]Whether humanoid or pod-shaped, early mobile suits were any mechanized craft or suit that had the ability to perform complex manipulations. While Mobile Suits were originally intended for use in space, it was soon discovered that their versatility was easily adapted for terrestrial use as well. The new Earth-bound MS became more humanoid in shape, as ‘legs’ allowed the large machines to become truly all-terrain.” –Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Technical Manual

(I was so excited when I noticed these guys. There they are! The original MS! Of the get-your-hands-off-her-you-bitch Xenomorph-punching variety!)

Mobile Suits weren’t always war machines; they had a perfectly respectable start as construction exo-suits designed for Colony building and other elements of space infrastructure. Plenty of engineers and scientists who would have been involved in developing Colony tech and space exploration would also probably have been involved with Mobile Suit design; when those projects came under Alliance control, those same engineers would find themselves making weapons, and whatever other notable human advancements they might have been working on– interstellar travel, Mars terraforming, nanotech etc., would be shelved for the foreseeable future.

But that wouldn’t necessarily be huge bummer news for people like Howard or the Gundam scientists– working for an unscrupulous organization might go against their conscience, but who doesn’t love a cool robot? Howard, like many people in the After Colony timeline and our own, is a Mobile Suit nerd who is just as fascinated by the idea of a big damn hero machine with a beam sword and rockets as the rest of us. 

That’s just the duality of Man, man. 

Luckily for everyone, once OZ started mass production of Mobile Suits, Howard and the five Gundam scientists who had been working on the Tallgeese project all took their ball and went home. The others left for the Colonies to start building OZ’s worst nightmare, gundanium Mobile Suits that would outclass anything that had been built on earth; Howard, on the other hand, took the route of passive resistance. VERY passive resistance.

…Well, he’d LIKE it to be this relaxed all the time, but Howard nevertheless finds himself helping wayward Gundam pilots and rehabilitating ex-OZ aces whenever they drop by, using his crane-operating salvage ship as an unofficial mobile base for the resistance. Later, Peacemillion serves the same function in space, eventually housing ALL the Gundams and their allies in their fight against White Fang. 

So Howard ends up being pretty busy for a retired guy who just wants to crack open a cold one with the boys and watch the sunset off shore of Key West. But who better to remind a crew of hyper-vigilant, stressed out pilots to chill out once and a while?

Take it from a man in a hot pink Hawaiian shirt: slow down and get some rest. Remember, if you don't schedule time for maintenance, your equipment (or your body) will schedule it for you.

_ ______________________ _

1) Hadrosaur dental batteries are apparently so weird and unique that they have material science applications that the DoD was interested in. I’m going out on a limb here because this is apparently unpublished stuff as of writing this, but HEY it’s an opportunity to plug The Skeleton Crew– who do NOT typically talk about the military industrial complex, but are in fact very cool professional paleontologists who make excellent dinosaur content videos. And now, back to the giant robots. 2) If you’re reading this, you’re a NERD.

#gundam wing #tallgeese #Mobile Suits #HOWARD #parsing post #tinyozlion pgw

[wjbs-aus]

hello, I know absolutely nothing about Ultrakill besides gun, flesh and

COIN

Please enlighten me. Do not hold back. I want to hear every excruciating detail, from lore to gameplay.

and if you want to know *exactly* how much I know, all the media of ultrakill I have consumed is random pictures of the sentient security camera and Gohrdahn’s video on SPARECHANGE%. also asking people who have no idea what’s going on about what’s going on is funny, so so far all I’ve picked up is that you’re a robot angel thing from hell and you fighting your way to heaven. Machines killed everyone and I wonder if the protagonist finds the metal areas more disturbing than the fleshy areas; after all, they’re seeing what is basically their insides, no?

No offense, but wow is that summary incorrect! Let's rectify that!

I'll only be covering the lore because, even though I've finished the game (so far), I don't fully understand the mechanics.

Be warned that some information may be incorrect since my memory sucks, and it also may become outdated in the future, as the game is still in development.

Also, I really recommend just playing the game. It's very good so far!

Anyway,

The ULTRALORE

Long ago, humanity had a Big War™ and built robots powered by blood. Remember that last point, it will be important later. One of these robots is our protagonist, V1; a blue robot with large, glowing wings that it uses to store its weapons, Hammerspace-style.

Eventually, the war ended, but humanity still used the robots for stuff like security. They also discovered Hell, which coincidentally happened to be structured identically to Dante Alighieri's interpretation, as seen in the Divine Comedy (Limbo -> Lust -> Gluttony -> Greed -> Wrath -> Heresy -> Violence -> Fraud -> Treachery).

An indeterminate amount of time before this, Minos, king of the layer of Lust, tried to improve the living conditions of his people, believing it to be wrong that they were being judged for the "crime" of love. He was killed by the archangel Gabriel (yes, that one) and had his soul imprisoned within the Flesh Prison, a half-demon half-angel living cage, forced to watch his gigantic corpse destroy his own realm. At another point in time (though I am not sure when it happened in relation to the last one), King Sisyphus (yes, that one) tried to rebel against Heaven, and was killed; unlike Minos, whose body lived on as a gigantic Husk, Sisyphus was beheaded and crucified within a secret chamber inside a pyramid in the Greed layer, while his soul was imprisoned within the Flesh Panopticon.

Back to the present, V1 got a younger, more-advanced sibling named V2, designed for security purposes and equipped with an explosive punch. Meanwhile, the people exploring Hell discovered that the entire realm is alive.

And then all of humanity died of probably robot-related causes.

So naturally, the robots made a beeline for Hell; after all,

MANKIND IS DEAD. BLOOD IS FUEL. HELL IS FULL. BABA IS YOU

One of these robots is V1. It entered Hell through some kinda funky mechanical entrance thing, where it encountered other Machines, as well as Husks (the embodiments of human souls) and Demons (statues filled with Magic Meat™ that animates them and gives them powers), collecting blood as it went. Eventually, V1 reached the gates of Hell (which, much like in the Divine Comedy, have the phrase "Abandon hope all ye who enter here" written across them), defeated the Cerberi (a pair of Demons resembling simplified versions of the Thinker), and entered Limbo.

The ULTRAKILL version of Limbo is interesting, though fairly basic compared to the later layers; the "sky" is made of screens, ambient nature-sounds come from poorly-hidden speakers, and there are folly-like "ruins" everywhere. V1 continues its journey, fighting the Hideous Mass (a large Demon resembling a scorpion or maybe lobster with the Creation Of Adam carved onto the tops of its claws, along with a harpoon-tail, and lots of exposed demonic flesh leaking out from large gaps in its armour) on the way. Eventually, it reaches a serene church, where it encounters V2. After a long battle, V2 escapes, dropping its left arm; V1 takes it and leaves, entering Lust.

Lust is a gigantic Cyberpunk cityscape, with Minos's gigantic Husk towering in the distance.

It's one of the most beautiful areas in the entire game.

As V1 travels through the layer, it gets closer to Minos, until the dead king himself attacks V1; it kills him, and a gateway to Gluttony appears in his throat.

At time of writing, Gluttony is the most conceptually-obvious layer, being a big organic thing with wobbly meat-walls, giant searchlight-eyes, spine-bridges and lakes of stomach acid. Shortly after arriving, V1 is contacted by a mildly-peeved Gabriel, telling it to "turn back now", as "the walls of this palace are not for your kind". Naturally, lacking any sense of self-preservation, nor any percievable emotion, V1 proceeds to battle Gabriel in front of a gigantic beating heart. Gabriel loses, swears his revenge, and proceeds to have a tantrum and call V1 an "insignificant fuck", then teleports away in a blinding flash of light. V1 drops down the hole in the bottom of the arena...

Disgrace. Humiliation. Unseemly and unwelcome at the feet of The Council. Their eyes ablaze with bitter resentment, glaring through Gabriel's wounds of body and soul, bore outward for all to see. "Has this one abandoned the way of our creator?" "It is unworthy of its Holy Light." "The Father's Light is indomitable." "This one sees fit to squander it." Their words resonated in Gabriel's limbs, coursing through as lightning upon wire, a searing hiss that would strike lessers deaf and blind. The Holy Light within him, an unstoppable force of divine fury. Insurmountable for mere Objects. This he knew. "Holy Council, my devotion to our creator is absolute. I have never strayed from the will of The Father, but a machine-" "You dare imply the might of The Father could be shaken by mere objects?" "Impossible." "Heresy." "Unspeakable." "Heresy." "Heresy." "Silence." "Your treachery will not be tolerated. As punishment, The Father's Light shall be severed from your body. You have 24 hours before the last of its embers die out." "And you with them." "Prove your loyalty." "Unmake your mistakes." As the Light was ripped from his being, Gabriel's screams were silenced in the hiss of gospel in praise of God. A boiling anguish to which even the fires of Hell could not compare. Through the blaze of torment a single burning hatred was forged anew. If the machines seek blood, he would give it freely; and with such fury, even metal will bleed.

... before landing in Greed, a vast desert with literal golden sand, with recreations of various famous landmarks. V1 fights a Sisyphean Insurrectionist, and later re-encounters V2, who has a new hookshot arm, but manages to beat the newer robot; the two end up in a high-speed chase down the side of a pyramid, but eventually V1 manages to get V2 to fall, with it landing hard on a nearby bridge, turning into a large, red stain.

V2 is canonically dead.

V1 grabs its arm, and leaves for Wrath.

Once upon a time, Wrath was the River Styx (yes, that one), before it suddenly turned into vast ocean. The souls of the damned literally fight for air, while those who lose hope fall to the bottom and [REDACTED FOR SPOILER REASONS].

V1 fights through a flooded underground complex, before ending up outside on a stormy night; they fight through many enemies, and manage to summon a gigantic cruise ship captained by a skeletal Ferryman, leading to ULTRAKILL's only moral choice at time of writing; using the revolver's Marksman mode, it is possible to throw a coin to the Ferryman. Alternatively, V1 battles the Ferryman (who is a gigantic Gabriel fanboy that carves demons into enemy-protecting Idols). Either way, this opens the path to inside the boat, which is attacked by a vast sea-monster; after escaping the now-capsized boat, V1 fights the Leviathan (a gigantic demon whose flesh was made from the Husks who gave up and sank to the bottom of the Ocean Styx; its heart, which sticks out of its head, has multiple angelic spears impaled into it, and constantly screams). V1 defeats the Leviathan, which explodes into a shower of blood, and the ocean splits open to reveal the entrance to Heresy.

Heresy is the most "hellish" layer yet; it's bright red, there's fire everywhere, and a lot of the buildings have goat-skulls on the walls. Gabriel, more furious after having his divine link severed, awaits V1. He goes off on one at it for killing everything in Hell, then tries to kill it again.

He loses, but this time, he's more graceful. Gabriel leaves to think, and his giant pipe-organ opens, revealing the entrance to Violence. That is where the story ends for now.

Silence. Introspection. How many had he killed? Had he ever thought to count? How much cruelty did he embody... and to what end? How many did he condemn to hell and who did it benefit..? Two defeats at the hands of the machine had changed Gabriel. The world of the one supposed Will of God was now shattered and only he was left to put the pieces back together. They collected before the light of a dying fire that fresh fuel couldn't sustain, this new light showing the truth to Gabriel: The pieces never fit together to begin with. The supposed Council of "the people" who boasted a God that wasn't there. Gone. Vanished. The Council still chased after the light of God's fire, their memory of its words and will grown twisted and warped, and the rest of the aimless masses of Heaven follow their footsteps. The angels still act in The Father's name but His kingdom has changed. Now the fire was dying, sputtering out as the heat failed to gain purchase. Gabriel looked upon the embers with a perfect clarity. He drew his blade and held it in contrast to the dying light. In its reflection he saw a weapon reborn, no longer wielded by the will of another, but his own. He knew words alone would never sway the masses. He chose to do something drastic. Death stains the auditorium. The littered corpses of the once mighty council now strewn against its surfaces, their last gasps of life dripping down the dissident blade of Gabriel's sword. The last councilor, now backed up to a wall, scrambles for words between panicked breaths as death approaches with measured steps. "W-wait! Y-you can't do this! Out status forbids it! This is treason, heresy, murder! We are the supreme authority, our law commands you! "You command nothing. Your words hold no power over me, or anyone else. Lest you truly believe you can talk my blade back into its sheath." "B-but the people are on our side! The citizens of Heaven know that we are just!" "The masses only follow you out of fear and desperation. I will show them there is nothing to be afraid of, for there is not species nor origin, vested rank or holy status that will stop the sharp edge of a sword. We all bleed the same blood, and the cushions of your thrones have made you weak and impotent." "P-please, Gabriel, see reason! The council follows the will of The Father! You seek to go against our creato-" "Face it, brother. God is Dead. The fire is gone. You're chasing phantoms." Gabriel's silhouette now towers over the councilor, his shadow cast upon a soon lifeless corpse. He raises his sword for the final cut as the crying mess on the floor stammers out its final feeble argument. "B-b-but the Father's light! Without me you cannot hope to reconnect with it! I-i-if you kill me, you'll be dead in a matter of hours!" ... "I know." A clean, silent cut glides through the councilor's neck, severing his spine with elegance and ease. His head falls onto the marble floor, the rest of his body following soon after. Bereft of status but brimming with purpose, Gabriel gave a final message to the angels amassed at the gates of the auditorium before leaving Heaven for the very last time. His arm outstretched, without a word, the people saw. In the silence the message rang out to the far ends of the cosmos.

The terminals encountered in Prime Sanctums and other secret levels reveal a bit more; most importantly that A. the terminals get bored, explaining the infinite Cyber Grind mode, and B. God regrets condemning Lucifer to Hell.

There's more, but honestly, play the game. It's really good.

that moment when you realise that Gorillaz lore is probably easier to explain than ULTRAKILL

#ultrakill

[muzzleroars]

Ferryman sways constantly in the apartment which worries Gabriel but it isn't from their wounds, it's their sea legs that haven't adapted to dry land yet.

But wow, that would be some intense trauma for the Ferryman to work through. outside the outright denial of heaven, basically all their hobbies and joys have been outright condemned as well. how would they be able to pick up a paintbrush or chisel without Micheal's words and actions coming to the forefront of their mind?

At least they have Gabe and V1 to lean on and the routine change should keep their mind from going to dark places.

Actually, if you combine this with Gabe learning to repair v1 (later reviving V2) then that would be a good way for them to bond again since the Ferryman could know mechanics from ship repairs and the hologram gabe shows that they do know a fair amount of robotics (depending on when they died they could already know alot about blood machines) plus their friendship with V1 would encourage them to collaborate and teach Gabe a thing or two. a cool new dynamic, teacher Ferryman and student Gabe.

(see this!)

YEA....it's a lot for the ferryman to process. it's one thing to feel unworthy in their own mind, to not truly believe beneath it all, despite gabriel's kindness, their holy cloth, and their sincere repentance, that salvation will come, because they know they've lost their chance. but to have those thoughts voiced by an archangel, to hear the prince of heaven lay out their ugliest thoughts is entirely something else. it's confirmation, no matter the faint hope they carried or the comfort gabriel gave them, it's all gone. michael has to be the final say, he is the one that visits souls at the hour of their death to offer one last chance, he is the one that binds all the evil of hell, he is the one that cast lucifer out of heaven. if he condemns them, they are truly lost and they can no longer even dream they may one day reach heaven even purely as fantasy.

i do really love that it gives them the opportunity to be with gabriel and v1 though,,,,they would initially feel so lost, not just in their thoughts but without any work to do. the apartment is of course nowhere near the size of their ship and they don't constantly have to be aware of their direction, yet like you mentioned, they can't find it in them to engage in their art which once brought them so much comfort. yet they can't feel like a burden either, no matter how much gabriel insists he wants them just to rest and v1 absolutely doesn't care about christian work ethic mentalities. but after a couple days of rest, they simply need to do something to help out...so i like the idea that they set to fixing up their apartment to a much higher standard than gabe or v1 could manage. they know how to repair just about anything, from structural issues to a squeaky door, so while gabriel continues to tell them it's not necessary, they set about to making the apartment like new (hell-wise). eventually gabe does relent, since the ferryman gently lets him know it helps them to have work...and soon he has to be actively involved, lest he want v1 making all the paint/wallpaper choices.

and i LOVE the idea of the ferryman helping gabe learn electronics/robotics aaaaaa ;o; the first time v1 goes out on its little exploration trips, they see gabriel pulling out his study materials and sheepishly explaining that well....he wants to be able to perform maintenance on v1 since he fears blood won't always be enough. the ferryman, not wishing to be presumptuous, tells him of their own modest experience and that he just needs to take it slowly, but gabriel immediately asks for assistance since it would be much easier to learn from someone else than pouring over terminal schematics and the scant literature he's gathered. and it could really bridge the gap that's grown between them, as well as the one that had always been present since the ferryman never felt worthy of his presence when he was an angel besides. they're starting to see gabriel now as full person, which can be difficult and even mindbending to accept in a divine being, but his kindness hasn't diminished in hell, his radiance shining through tarnished armor and still so warm in spite of a cold body. and they even find he can be a bit of a stubborn student, always wanting to do things how he thinks is best (and always slow to admit his mistakes) not humility an angel should have, but maybe he's always been imperfect. and maybe that's okay. they have lost their idol but perhaps, living as they all are now, it's more important to have a friend.

gabriel does notice the ferryman's lack of enthusiasm for their old hobbies though, even as v1 tries to encourage them by sculpting terrible little figures to show them. again the ferryman won't admit to anything, doesn't even want to articulate a single word michael said to them for all the pain it would cause them. because they are ashamed, ashamed of how they created and, at the same time, grieving how their comfort, their joy, has been stolen from them. they were proud in their works, they believed them to be the one good thing their hands could still produce, and now all they feel is utterly foolish for ever thinking so. when they continue to deny gabe and v1's attempts to get them to create again, gabriel finally decides to broach the topic himself. it's not hard to guess after all, not with the wounds the ferryman had come to their door with. it was michael. he asks about their art, their ship, and they say nothing. he knows that means it's gone - michael wouldn't let any of that survive, of course. gabriel's entire body tightens, knowing damn well what all of that meant to the ferryman and they have so little, the thought of it all burning into the sea sparks a fury in gabriel. yet he knows too his words, his comfort, mean very little next to michael's condemnations and his anger can offer nothing. so he apologizes to them, not just for what they lost but for having to endure the personal ugliness of heaven - michael is unwell, determined to cause unparalleled pain...but gabriel also can't lie. he can't tell them michael is twisting god's will - he's following it to the letter as he always has, and it's that will itself which is warped. but he can't say that all now. they're dealing with enough.

so gabriel instead tells them, for what it's worth, their art always brought him joy, and he knows v1 loves creating with them - in fact he knows they inspire it since it's created dozens of little clay renditions of each enemy its ever fought by now, as well as curious um....animals that it generates in its mind. and it never would have done so without learning from the ferryman. it doesn't mean they have to create again, it doesn't mean they need feel any pressure, but he just wants them to know their art was loved by someone, and gabriel is truly grieved it's gone. similarly, v1 starts sitting by their side while making its weird little clay creatures, always being sure it brings plenty of extra clay. just in case anyone ELSE wants to make something. and in spite of themselves, the ferryman feels an ounce of reprieve from their desolate thoughts, no longer feeling so isolated with gabriel's shared pain at their loss and charmed by v1's odd little homunculi. their art had touched others, even if it didn't touch god, and soon perhaps they take v1's quiet invitation to make something small again (gabriel knows immediately when it's happened too, since v1's strange tiny zoo seems to have a shepherd now)

#I AM MAYBE. FEELING A LOT. #now i really REALLY wanna draw v1 and the ferryman sculpting together #as well as their finished collab with v1's one dozen little freaks and the ferryman's perfect little shepherd #also hit hard by the ferryman's feelings bc i think every artist knows it to some extent #to have someone just really ruin your happiness in your work #but then when y o. whenr you frnends say they love ut thoguh UUDUGHGHHHH #anyways i went crazy writing this ok #cake answers #ferryman #fallen gabriel #v1

[tallbarbershopman]

One of the reasons I will always love Super Paper Mario (beyond being one of the first stories to ever make me cry) is just how truly out there of a game it is. Hear me out on this one (no major story spoilers):

The basic structure of the game is that it's divided into 8 worlds: you go to each world, which has four levels to be completed in order, and at the end of every fourth level is A Thing guarded by A Boss that you have to Get.

But Let's Take A Look at Those Bosses, shall we?

You have your standard fare including:

The One True Scots(/Irish)man

and Child that Forces You Into Indentured Labor

but in a lot of cases, you will find yourself stumbling upon characters and stories that you are just not mentally prepared for, and I actually am going to put a cut here because if you're gonna play this game you need to experience this for yourself.

So These Three Right

Leftmost is King Croacus. He is the king of the flower people. Simple, right?

He was driven insane after being slowly poisoned by the water supply polluted by the Cragnons—the race of Rock-Cavemen beings you first encounter, against whom Croacus wages war by capturing them and forcing them to work via mind control devices. Wild right?

In the middle is Francis. Francis is the circa 2007 stereotype of a Redditor.

I am being so serious.

He kidnaps your companion (who takes the form of a butterfly for Reasons) to take pictures of her and post them to the digibutter.nerr forums. His mansion is guarded by cat maid robots, he watches the show Starship X-Naut religiously, and you can only enter his room if you are, and I'm not making this up, a "Totally Hot Babe".

And the upshot of it all? You get to play a dating sim (DESIGNED BY HIM) with him.

Oh yeah, and on the right over there is Satan. Like actual Satan.

...well fine, technically his name is Bonechill, but hear me out: after getting sent to hell via triple-murder, ascending to heaven via purgatorial stairwell, and reuniting with all of your friends, you go to the chambers of the Divine All-Powerful Bearded man only to find this blue dragon who calls himself Bonechill and is leading an army of the Underworld enemies against the angels in heaven. Using the feature of the game that allows you to get the stats of an enemy + some flavor text reveals that he was once an angel, but got cast out of the game's version of heaven into the game's version of hell, but now, as the world begins to end (side note: in the actual story, the world is ending), he broke free and is leading a rebellion in heaven.

I'd like to remind you all that this is an E for Everyone Mario game, and while none of this is as graphic as you are imagining, it happens.

Oh, and just in case you were thinking the ice motif was a subversion of the devil-hell-fire thing, allow me to introduce you to a little piece of self insert fanfic called The Divine Comedy, where Satan is trapped in the lowest pit of hell—are you ready for this—encased in ice.

The comedy here is that not only does actual Satan get less screentime and buildup than the redditor, but also the fact that he isn't even the final boss—in terms of both narrative and gameplay elements, he is in the same league as all of the other midbosses.

Man I love this game.

#super paper mario #spm #ochunks #mimi spm

[star-going-supernova]

Prompt: mvp Vanessa verse

Ness is in the Plex with Gregory (brithday party or some such for one of his classmate's) and the virus takes over.

Figured I may as well kill two birds with one stone by filling this prompt for the first place prize of the poll’s civil war! No birthday party, but Gregory’s here! And it’s a real treat for y’all, being about 1,500 words. Congrats to the MVP!Vanessa voters, and I hope you all enjoy!

Prey

Quite frankly, Vanessa couldn’t believe her bad luck. Ordinarily, it was convenient to be in the pizzaplex when the virus was triggered in someone—saved her the commute. But not today, not when she had Gregory with her, and not when somehow, against all odds, two animatronics had bugged out. 

Worst of all, she hadn’t actually been with Gregory. She didn’t know where he was, if he was in or near the lockdown zones, or if he was safe on the other side of the building. This was the last time she let him go on ahead while she used the bathroom. 

Vanessa slammed through the locker room door and nearly ripped her locker open. She kept a spare crowbar here for just such occasions as this, though of course she hadn’t replaced her backup FazerBlaster yet after it fizzled to its death a few days ago. She just hadn’t had time to make the modifications on a new one. 

Cursing herself for not making the time, Vanessa charged back into the employee hallways, bee-lining to the nearest lockdown zone she’d been alerted to. Please, please don’t let Gregory be caught in it.

It was the indoor play area, which meant it was any kid’s heaven of foam pits, trampolines, slides, and all manner of climbable structures. Even Vanessa had fun in there. 

But there was no animatronic permanently assigned to that area. For this exact reason. It would trap countless kids with a murder robot. She tried to remember who the most common guests were—Moondrop, Chica, and Monty, she was pretty sure.

Had Gregory said he was going to the arcade or the play area? She couldn’t remember, not for the life of her. 

Frantically pressing her keycard to the blinking-red reader, she growled as she shoved into the room, fully prepared to be faced with screaming and crying kids. And blood. Potentially a lot of it. 

Instead, it seemed like business as usual. Laughter and chatter and children bodily flinging themselves into the foam pits. Breathing heavily, adrenaline primed for a fight, Vanessa scrabbled for her phone to double-check the location. If this was a glitch itself…

She didn’t have time to even pull it out of her pocket. Her Older Sibling Sixth Sense pinged, and her head shot up. Across the room, bouncing between trampolines with an urgency that most might read as an excess of energy, Gregory was leading Moondrop on a twisted chase. 

Oh, hell. Her brother was playing bait. 

Not just that, she considered as she took off at a speedy but not too conspicuous pace around the edge of the massive room. By putting up a front of tag, he was singlehandedly keeping the rest of the room’s occupants—easily over a hundred between the kids and their scattered parents—from even realizing anything was wrong. 

Vanessa caught his eye as she neared her destination: a door that lead into a large empty room where games with large groups were often played. Freeze tag, red light green light, they even had an enormous gym parachute. Today, she’d be playing piñata, featuring Moondrop. 

Gregory caught on without missing a beat and changed his zigzagging course to approach. Vanessa swiped her keycard and slipped inside without anyone noticing to ask if the room was open for use. 

It was beautifully seamless. Gregory hit the last trampoline just right and sailed onto the wide padded walkway that surrounded the trampoline area. It was a straight shot through the door, and Vanessa swung it open wide just as he reached it, yanking him behind it with her a moment before a gaining Moondrop could snatch him up. She slammed it—no matter how much she wanted Gregory on the other side, leaving it open any longer was asking for disaster to strike—and whirled with her crowbar raised. 

Moondrop skidded to a halt and spun to backtrack, and he got a face full of crowbar for his efforts. 

He went down hard, but he wasn’t out for the count yet. Following after him, Vanessa wound up again and sent the hooked end through the seam of his faceplate—this was why the crowbar worked so well. Bad enough bodily damage sent the animatronics into automatic shutdowns. 

Now was no exception. Her crowbar wedged in deep, and he went limp before he could even finish standing. She stepped back, breathing heavily. His eyes were dark; he didn’t move. 

Turning around, she said, “You good?” 

Wide-eyed and shaking a little, Gregory nodded. He inched closer, watching Moondrop intently. “He didn’t even touch me,” he whispered. 

Vanessa held out her arm, and he immediately crashed into her. “He’s out until they fix his face. We’re safe, okay?” 

He nodded against her. She squeezed him closer. 

“That was incredibly brave of you,” she said. “I wish it hadn’t come to that, but you… you did real good, kiddo.” 

“It was weird,” he said. “He spazzed out and then it was like his eyes were just empty.” 

“They go a little zombie-like, don’t they?” 

“Mhm. Slower, too. I know he’s fast enough to catch me when he’s really trying.” 

It was a silver lining, that they were just slightly less under the effects of the virus. 

“Let’s never do that again,” Vanessa decided. 

Backing up, Gregory didn’t even argue for the sake of it. “Yeah. Once is more than enough.” 

Vanessa tried to retrieve her crowbar, but it was thoroughly jammed. The repair guys always found that funny; they kept a tally of how many times they had to pry her crowbar loose with their own.

She gestured tiredly at one of the room’s side entrances. Adrenaline crashes sucked. “Let’s beat it, shrimp.” 

He led the way as she fished out her phone to log Moondrop’s defeat. The lockdown would lift in a minute, and a crew would hustle over to retrieve his body. Gregory pushed through the door as she tagged their location. 

“Roxy?” she heard Gregory ask. “What are you doing here?” 

Vanessa’s blood froze in her veins. She looked up with agonizing slowness, already throwing herself forward. Her phone fell to the floor with a clatter. 

She’d forgotten there were two glitched-out animatronics today. And of course Gregory hadn’t known. It had never happened before; he had no reason to be wary straight off.

Gregory gasped and stumbled back as Roxy lunged for him with her mouth wide open, teeth so, so sharp. 

Vanessa’s fingers snagged his shirt. She yanked him away from Roxy, eyes blazing with righteous, protective fury. It still wouldn’t be enough. 

She shoved her arm out sideways, in a defensive block pose—it was the only thing between Roxy’s fangs and her brother’s head. 

And Roxy’s jaw clamped down over Vanessa’s forearm, blood immediately spurting out from between her teeth. 

The slow motion feeling shattered with the sudden agony of her arm being shredded. Shrieking from part fury, part pain, Vanessa went down with a brain-rattling crash, Roxy’s momentum knocking both of them over. The weight of Roxy’s body slamming down on top of her punched all the air from her lungs. 

Roxy thrashed her head side to side without letting go, reminiscent of the wolves she was modeled after when they were trying to tear a chunk of meat off their defeated prey. Vanessa’s vision whited out. Her mouth hinged open on a silent scream. 

There was so much blood. She couldn’t feel her fingers. 

She’d been clawed before, she’d caught a stray tooth before, she’d been smacked around before. Nothing else had been as bad as this. This was the first time she thought she would finally die doing her job. 

She hoped Gregory was running. That he was anywhere but here. 

Vanessa should have known better. 

Roxy reared back, releasing Vanessa’s arm, presumably preparing to rip out her throat. But in that one moment when her bloody mouth was snapping shut between bites, Vanessa’s stupid little brother bodily threw himself at Roxy’s face. The animatronics got kinda tunnel-visioned with the virus—hence Moondrop ignoring all the easier prey after Gregory got his attention—so he truly took Roxy by surprise. She rocked backward from the force, and if Vanessa hadn’t been dry heaving from the pain, she’d have yelled at him for thinking that would help. 

But Gregory wasn’t done yet. Vanessa’s vision was too blurry for her to really understand how he did it, but Gregory somehow ended up clinging to the back of Roxy’s head like a monkey. Numb shock spread through her, both at the sight and as the trauma of her injury caught up to her brain.

Roxy flailed, her dumbed-down thoughts struggling to process the sudden child literally wrapped around her head. And the second he had a secure hold with his legs, Gregory was reaching into her eye sockets and yanking with a war cry. 

Both Roxy’s eyes popped out with the snapping of plastic and wires. Sparks jumped into the air. Her entire body seized and locked up, and with a great rattling crash, Roxy collapsed, automatically powering down from the damage. 

Vanessa’s body felt heavy, her thoughts slowing. It was so hard to keep her eyes open.

Gregory rolled free of Roxy’s still twitching limbs, dropping both eyes to the floor. “Vanessa!” 

That—that was her name. Gregory was saying her name. 

“Vanessa!” 

She… she should respond. 

“Vanessa!” 

Darkness rose up to greet her, and she lost consciousness before she could find the strength to.

#i answered a thing #anonymous #mvp vanessa au #the poll war saga #fnaf fic #fnaf security breach #star's stories #life and times of star

[tillman]

tillman its time for your monthly death threat <3 if you dont post about ultrakill in the next 24 hours im coming to your house with a big baseball bat full of nails okay. (guy whos seen someone play like halfway through whats out of ultrakill)

Its about love its about hate its about how those are at the root the same expression of an unending passion its about duty and purpose and finding hope in a world that doesn't care for you and has no true meaning at its root. its about if nihilism is really worth it its a question if certain philosophies matter at all in our busy lives its about futility and despair and life in the face of death. its about selfhood and being true to yourself despite the structures in charge that make that impossible. its a question of Dante's reflection of society. its about mythologizing and aggrandizing and desperate struggles to keep power.

its at its root a love story between two people who have lost their guiding force and making their own purpose despite "humanity/god is dead"

The lore of it is really interesting and told through small terminal entries throughout the game and its secret levels but it genuinely all boils down to "god is dead. god has deemed humanity a failure and has left. what happens." sure there is the great war, but its just set dressing. humanity wiped itself out in war, shocker. humanity built weapons of destruction that run on blood and can rebuild themselves forever. ok. humanity found the entrance to hell and attempted to explore it while they were still alive.

none of this really matters its not a story about that. you do get the humanity of minos and sisyphus trying to struggle against the harsh rule of heaven to create something better for the people forced to hell who didnt deserve it. you get the ferryman finding solace in a looping hologram and finding hope through religion (even if, in context, its a little funning knowing the religion is based off a man who is deeply flawed and questioning his own connection to god). you get the humanity of the different robots, swordsmachine and the mindflayers fighting to make themselves how they want to be viewed, v2s complex born from meeting its progenitor, etc. hell the true main character of the game is gabriel. you spend more time understanding his point of view and how he was led to this path and how he genuinely cares and wants to help than you get anything out of v1.

its also. above this. the best movement based boomer shooter ever made. its fun. its fast. the guns are all satisfying and combos feel insane to do.

and above all of this. the gameplay the music the lore.

its got this thing

#hope this helps.

[muninnhuginn]

Thanks for the tag, @roseofcards90!

Last song listened to:

Currently watching:

Move to Heaven (kdrama) - this probably isn't my usual fare, but I think I'm liking it so far? (Finished the first two eps) It's basically about telling the stories of the dead and making sure they get the respect they may not have received in life. One of the main MCs is autistic (as in, literally diagnosed) and the writing/acting seems to have a good balance so far with not babying him by showing he is competent but just has different rules and different people "get" him to varying levels? (There are definitely some little bits like the implication that his dad learnt sign language for him that feels warm rather than some writer just googling "common autistic traits") Will see how it goes anyway. It seems like the story of the day is episodic but the character stuff is building in the background.

Link Click (donghua) - Started watching this when s1 was airing but it was airing in the same period as Oddtaxi so the mystery parts of my brain were focused more on that at the time. To simplify it, it's a time travel donghua where the MC has to go back in time in order to retrieve info without altering the timeline. Season two is airing now and whilst I prefer s1 still overall s2 is still pretty interesting? Season one is more episodic/structured into arcs with a character focus, whilst season two is more full pelt mystery (so it's a bit surprising I prefer s1 tbh).

Jujutsu Kaisen (anime) - I'm an anime-only with this and am probably going to remain that way (especially from what I've gleaned about the manga - I might just watch to end of season two then leave it be?). Season two so far has captured me more than season one, though I've not seen the latest episode yet so will see if that holds when we return to the main cast. Either way, the openings and endings are genuinely so well-made. Even if the series goes entirely in a direction I hate I know I'll always have them.

Again My Life (kdrama) - Lawyer guy gets into trouble trying to take down a powerful guy. Gets killed (shocker). Gets sent back to his younger self to do it right this time. Not a super original plot admittedly, but it's a chill story so far and the relationships between the main cast in it (pretty much all platonic at least at this stage) are all really sweet. It's also doing surprisingly well in giving the female characters interesting conflicts

Adventure Time (US cartoon) - Not watching the whole thing and I have seen a number of random episodes out of order before, but am trying to crash course my way through enough to watch Fiona and Cake. Just finished the episode about Finn's ocean phobia and um, bit more yikes than I was expecting at this stage, but okay. Also, unfortunately, I can entirely see what people mean about Bubblegum&Finn being inspiration for Makima&Denji

Currently reading:

Klara and the Sun - first arc complete, extremely worried about some flags I'm picking up, rip. It's from the POV of a robot (AI kinda deal) and narration-wise, it really shows. Klara's pretty naiive in some ways, but the world-building and clues still make their way through the narration filter

House of Leaves - okay, ngl, I'm not far into this at all, but I've been confused about references to it for years and it seems meta so I'm going to get through it

Will bundle manga in together for ones I'm properly keeping up with rather than checking in every few months to catch up so: Skip and Loafer (monthly release), Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun (monthly), Spy x Family (fortnightly). Webtoons: Rebirth (weekly), unOrdinary (weekly).

Current obsession:

idek what I'd count because I'm into a few things rn and none of them to the extent I've done the whole deep dive? I'm being relatively chill, for me, I'd say. I'll say Link Click, Good Omens, Spy x Family are the things I'm most into nowadays? Good Omens is definitely what I have the most reblogs queued up relating to by far. There's just so much art and meta and I'm not used to being into a fandom here that just has so much. It's a bit overwhelming, honestly

Not sure who to tag but anyone who sees this and wants to have a go feel free (and feel free to ping me in it, I'm nosy) ^^

#tldr I have waaaay too many things pending. I've not included stuff like eizouken and poppy war I stalled on literally months ago #ask meme #roseofcards90

[frongle-art]

this will probably reach like 3 people ever but i might as well work something out. any further input or reccomendations are appreciated

rn i have a shitload of characters but I'll list the ones that I'd probably be posting on here about first

Frongle

I guess this one is my main? I started using him for pfps on discord and tumblr as well as a dnd character. He came from the character creation screen of Star Trek Online after I decided to make a character that was the antithesis of all the overly muscular, handsome, superman lookin ass avatars everyone else was using.

He's short, chunky, pesto green with yellow streaks across his face, and wears an old-timey rich man's suit with a top hat, as well as some enormous goggles that help him see in the brightness of surface light conditions.

He sweats this unpleasant foul-smelling poisonous gunk and has limited abilities in psychic persuasion and short-range telekinesis.

He is a prolific thief and a constant nuisance to anyone who has to work with him. Despite his profound annoyance, he has also managed to avert multiple galactic crises, which has granted him diplomatic immunity and further fuels his pride and self-importance.

He flies around in a stolen carrier flagship that used to belong to a demon race that presented one of the aforementioned galactic crises. He uses the power of this ship to go anywhere and give anyone he doesn't like a big punch, a migraine, a planted piece of contraband material, or some other petty inconvenience.

in the dnd campaign he acquired a cane that allowed him to summon a jojo-style stand that just looked like him but larger called 「hooligan heaven」 that would stride towards a location (like that one video of the plague doctor cosplayer) with incredible force while blasting various bootlegs of gangster's paradise.

frongle also used psychic ventriloquism to make a fish (which he had slain via farting in it's river) float in the air and speak, and he convinced himself that the fish was actually alive, which led to it essentially becoming an embodied version of the unseen servant spell. that was a weird campaign.

ok damn i guess i just wrote his bio post here but yeah the other ones are:

Gourdside

(pirate cursed by a god of plenty to be transformed into a pumpkin-headed humanoid with extendable vine-arms and a big hook. made them for a game art/design project)

AIPI (Artificially Intelligent Private Investigator)

security android that wears sherlock-ish outfits and has a head that resembles a coffee machine. it started out as another star trek online character but also got used for a game art/design project. i have it written into a two seperate storylines, one where it wakes up in a city full of servitor robots where all the humans have gone missing, and another one where it acts as a space government agent who doesn't care much about it's job and hangs out with frongle under the pretence of following it's assignment of keeping an eye on him.

Stone Golems

An assortment of golems that are part of my currently private worldbuilding project but I will probably post about some of them on here, especially if my intentions for that project change or if any version of it goes public in some way.

I have alot of details on how they work, where they came from, etc. and i can probably talk for hours about how it all works and it would probably lead into all the other lore about the world they're in. Currently I have:

Trip - a small Shardling (any golem twice the size of a human or smaller) that runs a bakery. It has a long, teardrop-shaped head and sloth-like bodily proportions

Pin - a Dustlet (the smallest kind of golem, a label that also includes non-sentient artefacts that run off the same magic as other golems) that resides in Trip's bakery and likes using it's tiny body as a rolling pin to help flatten dough.

Clobber - a Lesser Stone Golem (about the size of the drivable part of a truck) that closely aligned itself with a mortal race that became a powerful empire built on honour, craftsmanship and strength. It acts as a keeper of historical lore as well as an advisor to whoever is currently in charge.

Stack - a tall Shardling (about twice as tall as humans can be) that loves to build things and has a head shaped like a bowl.

Tumble - a stout, wheel-shaped Shardling (think like the size of a Monster Jam truck wheel) whose core was once trapped and being used as a grindstone by an ancient blacksmith.

Trod - a tortoise-like Greater Stone Golem (big enough to enjoy pretending it's a hill) that likes to sit somewhere and wait for someone to build a path near it so it can have someone talk to from time to time.

Clutch - another Greater Stone Golem that lumbers around the world and acts as a mobile sanctuary for Dustlets and Shardlings that are otherwise unable to fend for themselves, giving them the chance to safely explore the world without the threat of being abducted and experimented on by mages.

Yonder - a Stone Titan (fuckin HUGE, the LARGEST one that's still around) that was one of the first to be built and the only Titan that wasn't shattered into the pieces that formed all the Golems that wander the world. Big enough to inspire a legend that describes trees reaching an age where they decide to get up and walk around. It has a wide head (sort of like a hammerhead shark) and many-limbed quadrupedal body that imitates the form of it's long-extinct creators.

Wimguf

fucked up looking giant bowling pin lookin green sloth thing. most recent character so it doesn't have much lore yet. made it by photoshopping the wise mystical tree onto some concept art i found of uncle fungus from ice age and then stretching it really tall. I like his potential but it hasn't had much development yet.

Most of my characters go by either he, it, they or a combination of those. I will probably have some women enter this roster at some point but alot of these tend to come from interpretations of some aspect of myself. I recognise the importance of feminine representation but I am yet to confidently approach it in my character design.

For now it's a bunch of funky non-human characters that don't necessarily fit into the binary anyway and probably get whatever pronouns they may have more from how others would perceive them rather than how they see themselves.

I am continuing to write more characters and as I go more into the human/human-like races of my worldbuilding project there'll be a bit more gender variety.

#frongle lore #original characters #man this took a solid 2 hours or something #should be a good start-off for this blog so i can start posting the things whizzing around in my brain instead of just rbing

[eul0gies]

the strange men playlists

[ - songs that remind or are related to the characters/story of Uri’s strange men RPG games ! + 20 songs in each playlist ]

THE CROOKED MAN.

LINK HERE

songs -

lit up - radiator hospital // eros - the buttertones // henry - lowertown // cursive - billie marten // caught up - sights & sounds ft. nicole dollanganger // sometimes - radiator hospital // stomach it [ acoustic ] - crywolf // ghost under my bed - johnny goth // foghorn - puzzle // my propeller - arctic monkeys // fever dream - kitty sucker // send the pain below - chevelle // folklore and tall tales - w.c lindsay // lullaby - the cure // dragon bones - jamie t // structure - odd sweetheart // flowers for all occasions - blood culture // the boy who blocked his own shot - brand new // crutch - pinback // dumb - pretty sick

THE SANDMAN.

LINK HERE

songs -

one day robots will cry - cobra starship // the prettiest star - david bowie // rises the moon - liana flores // last words of a shooting star - mitski // sleep eater - slothrust // bad dream - johnny goth // monodrama - benches // eye dozer - spirit club // hot faced - margaux // congratulations - mgmt // flies - aubrey key // insomniac - memo boy ft. chakra efendi // you are the moon - the hush sound // roots - billie marten // pool - paramore // the more i sleep, the less i dream - we were promised jetpacks // caroline - lowertown // preoccupied - save face // why even try - hippo campus // fingers - it looks sad.

THE BOOGIE MAN.

LINK HERE

songs -

i could be dangerous [ demo ] - reverie sound revue // wires - the neighbourhood // evil - interpol // if you were there, beware - arctic monkeys // it was a pleasure - echo & the bunnymen // moon waltz [ piano verson ] - cojum dip // sparks - coldplay // counting - heavens // you’ve seen the butcher - deftones // a little death - the neighbourhood // gun shy - widowspeak // i know it’s over [ demo ] - the smiths // mr. fear - siames // too much to ask - arctic monkeys // a beginner’s guide to destroying the moon - foster the people // song seven - interpol // this charming man - the smiths // maybe it’s a fantasy - johnny goth // i know - private island // blindness - metric

THE HANGED MAN.

LINK HERE

songs -

fortress - pinback // mice - billie marten // leave me be - computerwife // hole in the earth - deftones // mt. washington - local natives // hazy - vulpix // ykwim? - yot club // drowning - johnny goth // six flags in f or g - surfer blood // to kelly lee - the speed of sound in seawater // agoraphobia - deerhunter // lavender blood - fox academy // dear child ( i’ve been dying to reach you ) - anthony green // we live underground - lights on // mother make me golden - dear and the headlights // spellbound - siouxsie and the banshees // stardust - amarante // last snowstorm of the year - hippo campus // younger - the hails // welcome and goodbye // dream, ivory

i hope you enjoy !

#the crooked man #the sandman #the sand man #the hanged man #crookedman #thecrookedman #thesandman #theboogieman #the boogie man #boogieman #thehangedman #urigames #urirpggames #uri rpg games #playlist #playlists #fan playlist #rpggames #uri